Most police 6/80s were supplied new with an additional heavy-duty anti-roll bar across the rear axle, and not to be confused with the normal anti-roll bar on earlier civilian versions using lever arm shock absorbers (early cars), which were replaced by angled telescopics. In the case of Motor Traffic Patrol, the standard sized tyres; 600×15 cross ply, were replaced by 670x15s, and the torsion bars were ratcheted up a few clicks to give a greater ride height. Although this raised the centre of gravity and altered the weight distribution angle, it made the steering lighter, making the car easier to manoeuvre around fast corners in a street-chase situation.

A larger heavy-duty output dynamo was fitted, and unlike the civilian versions that had the 12v battery under the bonnet, the police versions carried two very large 6v batteries in special compartments under the rear seat. This allowed the radio to be used whilst stationary without the need to keep the engine running to avoid depletion of a single battery.  The wiring loom differed considerably from the civilian version, having many additional tributaries to cater for the specialised supplementary electrical equipment. Inside the boot (trunk), mounted on a platform, were the two Pye units of the wireless transmitter and receiver system. There were extra drillings in the base of the rear seat fascia where the loom passed through to the boot and on some examples, brackets just below  the rear window – attached to the rear parcel shelf – to support a ‘pop up’ “Stop Police” sign which was operated by a solenoid.

This, and the radio equipment was controlled from a special “in-house-built” tailor made switch panel fitted into the nearside glove locker aperture. A heavy cast metal microphone was carried in its cradle below the dash centre. Motor Traffic Patrol 6/80s carried a specially calibrated speedo unit known as the “A/T head” fitted on to the dash panel in place of the normal speedometer. Both police versions carried an additional interior mirror for the operator who was responsible for logging and dealing with incoming and outgoing wireless messages, map reading, control of the gong in emergencies, and the use of the public address system where applicable. The Wireless Area Car often carried a plainclothes ‘observer’ seated in the rear for occasions when the sight of a uniformed officer might otherwise hinder an ongoing enquiry.

The 6/80’s 2.2-litre overhead camshaft engine (VC22W) was quite efficient in its dealings with everyday policing requirements, and was well able to keep up with the rest of the competition. It had one weakness however, its propensity for devouring its own exhaust valves. This became something of an ongoing irritant to the staff of the MRD (motor repair depot) who had the unenviable task of attempting to rectify a problem that was, in itself, believed to be a manufacturer’s design fault but was in fact merely because the WW1 aero engine upon which the engine’s vale gear (in particular) was based, was intended to run at a constant and lower speed and was not suited to automotive use where high/rapid changes of speed were required, nor working in a hot enclosed environment .i.e. under the bonnet.

There were many suggestions and ongoing engineering debates as to why the valves burned out but it would be fair to say that a combination of the type of vehicle use (vehicles in urban areas that were mostly used for long journeys seemed not to suffer from the problem so much), poor quality low octane fuel (a major cause of detonation/running on and overheating) and the materials the valves and guides were made from at the time, all contributed to the problem. Many ‘Old wives’ tales’ came about, the favourite one being “The valves don’t rotate, hot spots develop and the valves burn out”. Whilst this is partly true and was a contributing factor to the failure of the valve gear, it was not the principle cause. For a clearer understanding of the VC22 engine and it’s history and development, please see “The OHC engines” web page on this site.

The 6/80 was truly the ubiquitous police car in many cinema productions of the 1950s, and quite a few feature films were often supported by a short “Scotland Yard” style thriller in which the main theme was one of promoting a pro-police flavour.

It is perhaps this aspect that still attracts onlookers to the model at many classic car shows, for many of the older spectators will remember those black and white films in which either Joe Wadham or Jack Silk appeared in their “police mock-up” 6/80 with a shrilling emergency gong, as equity-approved uniformed stunt drivers for a variety of film production houses, Ealing Studios, Merton Park Studios, and Beaconsfield Studios to name but a few.

At time of writing, it is believed that there are only two surviving ex-Metropolitan Police 6/80s left in Britain, NGH-929 and NXB-181. NGH-929 was a genuine (and provable), patrol car. NXB was a Hendon driving school car, not an active patrol vehicle. Both vehicles were owned by the 6/80 club founder David Barker, who restored NXB, and still owns NGH 929, which is at present undergoing full restoration. Apart from these two specific cars there are also very many police replicas to be seen at various classic car shows.

Motor Traffic Patrol also used the 6/80, and again, each District had at least one of these operating right round the clock. The Traffic Patrol version differed from the Area Car by having additional external equipment, most noticeable of which were the two bowl-shaped loudhailers above the windscreen, and two illuminated number-plate-style police signs across the front and rear with white letters on a Bermuda blue background.

These two versions of the 6/80 therefore, formed the mainstay of the fleet, although they were supplemented by a variety of other similarly sized British makes throughout their service as police vehicles. Apart from the external visual images of both types of police 6/80 in the London area, there were also quite a few mechanical differences compared with a civilian version.